Unfortunately, This is Not Going to Work...
[/hr]
The rest of the evening was surprisingly uneventful. She met the almighty dictator of Stalliongrad, had dinner with him, and that was it. Seriously. Oh well, no one could never really know the future, but Twilight had at least expected something to happen. For Celestia's sake, there wasn't even a library in Josef's palace! So, at the request of Josef, Twilight and her guards stayed the night at his palace.
"Is it just me, or was that food a bit... iffy?" Twilight said as she rolled onto her bed and onto her back, looking at her guards upside-down while her mane flew over the edge of the bed and sprawled in a cascade of lavender and purple.
"Welcome to Stalliongrad," Resnov grumbled.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, confused.
"Bah. Nothing in particular." Resnov looked side to side and leaned over from his seat and whispered into Twilight's ear, "Is not safe to speak of here. I will tell you later. Good night, Princess."
Resnov stirred Chernov awake and the two left the room to their own quarters. Ironhoof and his companion were stationed outside of the door, in their respective positions. Magic and full stomachs would allow them to stay up all the night. Twilight suddenly felt quite lonely.
She examined the ornate room; the paintings, the plant vases, the Victorian decorations, and shrugged. She pulled herself into the appropriate position and slipped under the covers, where she fell fast asleep, while Spike did the same.
[/hr]
She awoke the next day to a knocking at her door, a bit of muffled grumbling, and a thud.
Twilight forced herself out of her deep slumber and mumbled.
"Mmf. What is that?" Twilight yawned and call out louder, "Broadhoof? Justice? What's going on?"
There was a muffled call through the door.
"Uh... Just a bit of precautions..."
Twilight's face went blank ("-_-") and she called back out.
"Let him in!"
"It's a sh-"
"Then let her in!"
There was a bit more muffled speaking, and the doors hastily opened and shut in quite a comical fashion while in scrambled an attractive young maid, a mare, who was blushing quite heavily. The color of her coat and mane were reminiscent of Twilight's favorite cellist back in Equestria: Octavia Melody.
She scowled back towards the doors and hastily straightened up her uniform, the velvet in her muzzle fading away.
"I apologize for the, uh, delay, Princess Twilight, but I have been sent here to awaken you and provide you with your breakfast."
"Oh. Well thank you, miss?"
The maid's eyes widened a bit and Twilight heard a small gasp.
Twilight frowned and and asked, "Miss? What's the matter?"
"I'm sorry, it's just... No one's ever asked me my name before."
"Really?"
"Yes..." She cleared her throat, "Well, I apologize. My name is Alexandra Galerkin; at your service."
"Well once again thank you."
"You are indeed welcome."
Alexandra hurried over and gave Twilight her food, courtseyed, and left.
When she pushed open the doors, she glared at Captain Broadhoof, who, in response, startled and jumped back, Golden Justice chuckling behind him.
Twilight was amused by the entire display and chuckled, giving the breakfast her attention. It was dull.
As she finished, Twilight wondered what to do with her dishes. After a bit of thought, she simply opted to place them on top of the ornate dresser to the side of her bed, and got out of bed.
After a quick visit to the bathroom, she was ready for the day and left the room, where Ironhoof and Justice waited.
"So... what was that all about?"
The elder guard huffed and answered, "Don't ask."
Justice only chuckled.
Twilight smiled herself and turned to the left of the hallway.
"So, my plans for today-"
She was suddenly interrupted by an impossibly loud crashing and shattering that came from seemingly everywhere at once.
The force threw Twilight off of her hooves and onto the floor, her armored companions following suit.
A nearby door viciously swung open and a pair of tired-looking Stalliongradis poured out.
They hurried over and helped the trio up.
Chernov was mumbled nervously under his breath and Resnov looked at Twilight.
"They finally made it here."
"Who?"
Before Resnov could answer, another explosions rocked the floor, but this time everyone managed to keep their balance.
"Come on, go, go, go!"
"Where?"
"Follow us!" Ironhoof commanded and he and the other soldiers fell into formations.
"Chernov, you actually remembered your bullets this time, yes?"
"Da!"
"Your gun is equally importan-"
"Ahh, I know!"
"Good, because last skir-"
"Shut up!"
The banter between the two would have been amusing if Twilight wasn't so frightened and confused.
Eventually, they ran into a Commissar standing on top of a small table at the end of the hall who was directing a flow of soldiers that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
When he spotted the group, he eyed Chernov and Resnov.
"You two! Accompany second Batallion!"
Resnov turned around and said, "This is where we say goodbye, Princess."
Without another word, the grizzled stallion hurried down the hall. Chernov lingered but ended up simply nodding and following his commander.
"Wait.. Wha-?"
"Never mind them! This way!"
"Where's Josef?"
"Probably long gone in a bunker somewhere, we need to get out of here!"
"Wait! What about Spike!?"
The two guards froze. They had all completely forgotten about the little dragon.